Back last year (or maybe earlier this year...I'm not sure) my friend and fellow blogger Heather over at I Feel Polished did a blog post on how to paint your nails. She says that any polish can last a long time provided the application is done well.
Because I'm naturally a curious person and because I had two red polishes in my untrieds bin, I decided to put her theory to the test. The two red polishes I had in my untrieds bin were both low priced polishes available at Walmart. To make the test fair I picked two mid priced polishes from my stash to test with them. I wanted to see if the low priced polishes would last as long as the mid priced polishes and how their formulas compared. I polished these on a Saturday morning before my household chores when I knew my nails would be getting a workout, and I left them on 24 hours.
The four polishes I used for this test were (from pinky to index finger on my right hand) OPI Wocka Wocka, Zoya Nidhi, NYC Madison Avenue, and Pure Ice Siren. A little about the polishes themselves:
OPI Wocka Wocka--formula was smooth, clean up was a little difficult (it liked to stick in the cuticles really well), did not stain
Zoya Nidhi--formula was thin (I used two coats and could have used three), clean up was difficult because of the shimmer (it left glitter everywhere), did not stain
NYC Madison Avenue--formula was thin (I used two coats and could have used three), clean up was easy, did not stain
Pure Ice Siren--formula was great, two coats was awesome, clean up was easy, did not stain
I polished them on all exactly the same. I used ellagee Grip for my basecoat, I wrapped all coats of polish around my tips, and I used ellagee Glass as my topcoat.
To be really fair, I painted the 4 polishes I used from index to pinky on my left hand, knowing that most people typically use their index and middle fingers more than their ring and pinky fingers.
The results of the test after 24 hours:
After 24 hours every nail had tip wear except the pinky on my left hand which was polished with Pure Ice Siren. None chipped, and I could have worn it for another day or two easy. I was absolutely shocked that out of the four my favorite was Pure Ice Siren, which I had been putting off trying because I'm a polish snob and didn't think a cheap polish from Walmart would be worth a crap. And I have proven Heather's theory correct...It's not how much the polish is, it's how you apply it that's key and I made a point to myself that some more expensive polishes aren't as good as some cheaper polishes. It all depends on the formula!
Yours in scarlet,
The
Unprofessional Polisher
